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Ongoing Issue With Blood In Urine

LydiaMinx

LydiaMinx

Teenage Guinea Pig
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Hello all, it has been a while!

Unfortunately I only seem to post when I need advice on health issues - everything has been perfect with my 3 girls until the last 3 weeks or so.

Pumpkin, roughly 15 months old now, has had varying amounts of blood in her wee for a number of weeks.

At first I wasn't convinced it was blood, as it was just brown patches on the bedding which eventually faded, but I took her to my vets regardless. He prescribed Baytril for 5 days, seemed to clear the issue up. Cut to a few days after the course of Baytril had finished, and her wee is dark again with clear red blood patches now.

I took her back, got given Baytril for 10 days, and told to bring her back for further investigation if it doesn't work (was fully intending to anyway). Again seemed to work but she was still having progressively worse blood patches in her wee while on the course.

Course finished and the blood was still sporadically appearing in her wee. I took her back, given Metacam and told to bring her back if that doesn't do the trick...

She had the worst and most obvious blood in her wee on Friday night, about 7 in a row. It's very alarming to see but she has remained very unbothered by it throughout. She hasn't gone off of her food or lost weight - she has actually gained it.

I got my partner to submit a wee sample for her at the vets Saturday morning, he sent me a photo and it was peach coloured and cloudy. He also said it had a very pungent smell.

I've made her an appointment at an exotics specialist for Thursday, which is the earliest I could get.

From what I've been reading, this is most likely to be bladder issues (such as sludge or cystitis) or ovarian cysts.

Anyone had similar experience? Thanks!
 
I thought they gave them about 3 weeks on antibiotics, also they should change the tablets after a while. Because they aren't working. Does she squeak when she is doing a wee!
 
Tiamolly123 said:
I thought they gave them about 3 weeks on antibiotics, also they should change the tablets after a while. Because they aren't working. Does she squeak when she is doing a wee!
Click to expand...

Hopefully the sample will highlight it if it is an infection and give them a better idea of antibiotics to use if it is an infection! And no, if you couldn't see the bloody wee you'd have no clue anything was wrong at all, she is very happy.
 
LydiaMinx said:
This was the sample we managed to get to the vets

View attachment 75592
Click to expand...

Hi!

UTI often takes a longer course of antibiotics to clear it than just 5-10 days. If it is not effective, then you need a scan for a bladder stone or sludge. If no stone is found but symptoms persist, then you are looking at IC, interstitial cystitis, which is a recurring inflammation of the bladder walls which cannot be cleared by antibiotics. It is becoming more common, but it is not yet well enough researched to do more than treat the symptoms until it goes away on its own after a couple of years or so.
All three issues present with the same symptoms. Any vet will start with the most common and work their way down the list. If you vet is not experienced with guinea pigs, they may not have come across interstitial cystitis yet.

Please be aware that the rusty discolouration is caused by oxidising urine and not necessarily by blood. Piggies with clear urine can score high on a blood test stick whereas deep red urine may not contain any trace of blood. The discolouration is caused by a type of bacteria, which is always present in the bladder and usually kept under control by a fully working immune system. UTI is cuased by faecal bacteria getting into the urinary tract and not by the oxidising bacteria.
The milkiness is excess calcium. It is not untypical for a a UTI or IC that the calcium absorption is a bid disturbed.

Please follow our tips for a diet for guinea pigs with urinary tract issues. Also ask for metacam (the best treatment for IC as ii is not just a painkiller but also an anti-inflammatory).
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diet
 
Wiebke said:
Hi!

UTI often takes a longer course of antibiotics to clear it than just 5-10 days. If it is not effective, then you need a scan for a bladder stone or sludge. If no stone is found but symptoms persist, then you are looking at IC, interstitial cystitis, which is a recurring inflammation of the bladder walls which cannot be cleared by antibiotics. It is becoming more common, but it is not yet well enough researched to do more than treat the symptoms until it goes away on its own after a couple of years or so.
All three issues present with the same symptoms. Any vet will start with the most common and work their way down the list. If you vet is not experienced with guinea pigs, they may not have come across interstitial cystitis yet.

Please be aware that the rusty discolouration is caused by oxidising urine and not necessarily by blood. Piggies with clear urine can score high on a blood test stick whereas deep red urine may not contain any trace of blood. The discolouration is caused by a type of bacteria, which is always present in the bladder and usually kept under control by a fully working immune system. UTI is cuased by faecal bacteria getting into the urinary tract and not by the oxidising bacteria.
The milkiness is excess calcium. It is not untypical for a a UTI or IC that the calcium absorption is a bid disturbed.

Please follow our tips for a diet for guinea pigs with urinary tract issues. Also ask for metacam (the best treatment for IC as ii is not just a painkiller but also an anti-inflammatory).
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diet
Click to expand...

Here's hoping it is an infection then, and the courses we were given simply weren't long enough. She has actually just pee'd on me and the smell was really overpowering, which I know from unfortunate bladder issues myself is a giveaway of infection. So hopefully it is that!

And I did question at first whether it was simply discolouration as I am aware that it happens, however it is now vivid red spots among wet patches - unmistakably blood.

She is on Metacam at the moment, waiting for the urinalysis to find out next steps with specialist. Will read up on interstitial cystitis! Thank you @Wiebke :)
 
LydiaMinx said:
Here's hoping it is an infection then, and the courses we were given simply weren't long enough. She has actually just pee'd on me and the smell was really overpowering, which I know from unfortunate bladder issues myself is a giveaway of infection. So hopefully it is that!

And I did question at first whether it was simply discolouration as I am aware that it happens, however it is now vivid red spots among wet patches - unmistakably blood.

She is on Metacam at the moment, waiting for the urinalysis to find out next steps with specialist. Will read up on interstitial cystitis! Thank you @Wiebke :)
Click to expand...

The stale smell is indicative of both a urine infection and a cystitis. The cystitis can of course be caused by a bladder stone irritating the bladder walls. That is why it is often necessary to work your way down the list and exclude all other possibilities before you end up with IC.
The good news about IC is that it does NOT lead to stones and it is NOT fatal. But it is also not going away quickly and flares up every few weeks. If you come down with a diagnosis of stones or IC, we can give you further tips for longer term bladder support. My Nerys had IC for about 3 years, but then lived another 3 years free of any bladder problem to the ripe old age of 8 years. ;)
 
I had a piggy with very offensive urine. Urine culture revealed a 'superbug' that was resistant to most common antibiotics. We did manage to find an antibiotic that worked that was not toxic to piggies and it did clear up. Interestingly her cage mate developed exactly the same infection.
 
Just travelling back from the specialist, xrays and ultrasound revealed cysts on botb uterine horns and some clouding in her lungs. Vet said she's seen the two hand in hand often, so Pumpkin is on Doxycycline for a week to clear her URI, she will then go in for her Spay next Thursday.

Bloods and additional urine all came back fine so it has been the cysts all along.

Relieved to know what's going on with her!
 
Pumpkin was spayed today, all went well! Her wound is nice and clean and internally stitched, she's really perky and eating lots - you wouldn't know anything had happened to her! Her chest is still a little bit crackly so she's on Karidox for 10 more days. Really really relieved, such a stressful day waiting to hear she was ok!
 
So Pumpkin is still really bright this morning, eating and drinking fine!

However there is still rather large patches of blood in urine that I've spotted in the cage...is this to be expected after a spay?

I may ring the vets as I'm now a tad paranoid we got the wrong pig...
 
Anyone have any experience with blood still being in the wee after a spay? Would assume it's from the trauma but would like a few others experiences
 
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